He got lucky once, dodging a penalty for a runaway tire on pit road late in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
When it came time for NASCAR to look at Carl Edwards' car, his luck came up craps.
And when NASCAR gets involved, there isn't a second chance to make things right, especially when it comes to post-race inspection.
And they say that it never rains in Southern California, huh?
Don't tell that to the Sprint Cup drivers who got in and out of their cars for about 12 hours on Sunday. It was good to finally see everyone come to their senses around midnight and say "let's call the whole thing off."
Not before everyone was just a little bit angry.
There was something in the air Thursday at the Pole Position Raceway go-karting center in Las Vegas. It wasn't as much for challenging my media brethren on the track (I couldn't because certain necessary equipment wouldn't fit), but there was the chance to talk to the man who played the unlikeliest of parts in giving Ryan Newman his Daytona 500 win last Sunday.
If there was ever a happier development on the Southern Utah sports radio scene, I know it hasn't happened in a long, long time.
Starting tomorrow, NASCAR fans won't have to buy a satellite radio to hear the races.
That's reason to celebrate the new season.
Okay, so he's not Jeff Gordon.
That may be true, but there's one thing we're going to be able to call Jimmie Johnson come Sunday night - a repeat champion in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.
And the way he's done it - winning four straight races, just like Gordon did when he repeated as champ in 1998 - is certainly Gordonesque.
Read on for the latest power rankings after the Checker Auto Parts 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.
Okay, so he's not Jeff Gordon.
That may be true, but there's one thing we're going to be able to call Jimmie Johnson come Sunday night - a repeat champion in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.
And the way he's done it - winning four straight races, just like Gordon did when he repeated as champ in 1998 - is certainly Gordonesque.
Read on for the latest power rankings after the Checker Auto Parts 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.
Race car drivers are usually a busy lot, but if you look at what Kyle Busch is up to this weekend, you have to wonder if there are a few timing belts loose in his drive train.
Check out what's up with this guy's schedule.
In case you missed it, Jimmie Johnson made a loud, boisterous statement when he won the Dickies 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
He's the defending champion and everyone else has to go through the No. 48 to get to the ultimate prize.
Will he reclaim the primo, numero-uno, top-dog spot in our power rankings? Read on to find out.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Dickies 500 from Texas Motor Speedway.
As excited as I know a lot of people get around here for anything that goes insanely fast on four wheels (NASCAR, NHRA, open-wheel, etc.), here's something that may get everyone seriously fired up.
Relax. It's only talk at this point, but a certain track owner has made the first big step.
And now, the Chase for the Nextel Cup is really on. We're going to have some drama after all.
The current champ - the one trying to repeat - is trying to get past his teammate, who's looking for his fifth title in a 15-year career.
With three races left to run in the 2007 Nextel Cup season, the margin for error has officially become razor-thin.
Check out the latest power rankings after the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
If you're a fan of the folks who run straight down the quarter-mile in addition to those who turn left for a living, the NHRA has one sweet competition you can check out this weekend.
Not only that, a championship battle is seriously taking shape.
The NHRA ACDelco Nationals start today with the first qualifying runs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
You often wonder about this. In a working environment, people should feel easy about getting along with others around them. In the case of Nextel Cup drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, not only are they in the same working environment on the track, they're there off of it as well.
They get along well, no doubting that, but they're both going after another championship. Friendship doesn't count for much at this time of the year.
Who's the latest leader of our power rankings? Read on to find out.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Subway 500 from Martinsville.
Well now...Jimmie Johnson didn't rule the roost at "his house," aka Lowe's Motor Speedway.
For the first time since his debut season of 2001, he (gasp) actually finished outside the top 10.
Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, is starting to show some serious championship mettle.
Do the power rankings reflect this? We'll see in a few moments, after this brief message from Lowe's...let's build a championship season together.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Alright. I admit. Jeff Gordon is simply the man. Whether he dominates a race or steals it on the final lap, the No. 24 knows how to get to Victory Lane.
Talladega and the COT (a ho-hum race on Sunday, except for that final lap) have also turned the 2007 Chase into a two-man show.
Take a look at the latest power rankings for further proof:
Dustin Bowden of Moab is like any other race fan. He's passionate about the action, is true to his driver, and hates that driver's competition.
But the 21-year-old has a rare disease known as Williams Syndrome, along with a heart defect that has required several surgeries. Racing like his favorite driver, Jeff Gordon, isn't an option.
Thanks to the love and support of his family, Bowden got a surprise for his 21st birthday he won't soon forget.
The 2007 Chase for NASCAR's Nextel Cup is officially in full swing now, especially after what happened at Kansas on Sunday. Rain delays, wrecks, and angry drivers (especially the Chasers) made for a wild and wacky day.
Since there are 12 drivers truly strong enough to be power-ranking worthy for the balance of the season, we're going to tell you for the rest of the way if the favorites have a great shot, definite potential, are a long shot, or have no shot to win the 2007 Nextel Cup.
Read on for installment No. 1.
Couldn't believe the party that the Monster Mile threw for itself at Dover International Speedway on Sunday.
Its message was clear.
"I am what I am. If your cars, or your driving skill, can't handle me, well then, that's just too darn bad."
Carl Edwards handled the Monster Mile fine and dandy, winning for the third time this season on a day that saw the field flip itself upside down.
Did the power rankings do the same? Read on to find out.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway.
How about Clint Bowyer, eh? For someone who hadn't won a race in his NASCAR Nextel Cup career, the driver of the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet certainly picked the perfect time to make history.
Not only did Bowyer get that first win, he propelled himself firmly into the conversation for who might win the 2007 Nextel Cup.
But did he make a similar move in the power rankings? Let's find out together.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Before we begin with today's installment of the power rankings, there were two clarifications from Through The Gear Box that was published in the sports section.
In discussion of how NASCAR made a mistake by taking 12 instead of 10 for this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup, a paragraph was missing. The fourth paragraph ended with the word "rid."
Here's what was next, a thought on how NASCAR's goof was magnified Saturday night:
Not only did the miracle never come, Junior blew out his engine with five laps to go, basically giving Harvick a free ride into the field.
Had NASCAR not messed with a good thing, the battle for 10th would have been the story of the year. Four drivers – Harvick, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. – were separated by only 38 points from 9th to 12th heading into Saturday.
And in the infobox on page B4, the outlook portion for Kurt Busch was missing. Here's his outlook for the 2007 Chase:
Like Edwards, Busch missed last year’s Chase and broke a long winless drought with his dominating Pocono run. He also made the 100-point penalty for his pit-road encounter with Tony Stewart at Dover a non-issue in a hurry.
Now, with that out of the way, on to the power rankings after the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 from Richmond International Raceway.
Yes, even we geeks who love our motorsports make a few boo-boos every now and then.
The final clarification is in on NASCAR's tiebreaker rules for seeding purposes: After pole positions and races won, the next tiebreakers are second-place finishes, third, fourth, and so on.
Knowing this, here's the absolutely correct order for seeding in the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup:
This just in...eight of the 12 spots have been decided for the Chase.
That, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. needs a miracle of gargantuan proportions.
Should NASCAR change things around? I think so, especially since the separation between Clint Bowyer in ninth and Kevin Harvick in 12th is only 38 points heading to Richmond. Earnhardt is 128 points back.
Translation: As long as Harvick finishes 32nd or better, he's in and Junior's out for the second time in three years.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Sharp AQUOS 500 at California Speedway.
And now, the tension builds.
If you're a fan of the No. 8 and Dale Earnhardt Jr., you've probably got your nails down to next to nothing these days. After all, for all of his effort, Junior probably feels like Sisyphus, forever pushing a rock uphill and getting absolutely nowhere.
No real tension exists for those who are in the 2007 edition of the Chase, especially Carl Edwards, who won for the second time in 2007 on Saturday night at Bristol. He's back after a year away.
To see more and where Edwards fits in the power rankings, read on.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
I never thought we'd get the race in, but not even a fog delay could keep the 3M Performance 400 from being run on Tuesday morning at Michigan International Speedway. Happy dances all around, especially for Kurt Busch, who won for the second time in three weeks.
With three races left until the Chase, positions are starting to take shape.
Read on to see how Busch stands in the newest edition of the power rankings from the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
As if waiting out the rain on Sunday wasn't bad enough, it was a carbon-copy repeat Monday at Michigan International Speedway.
More rain meant another postponement, this one to Tuesday morning. But should rain be an issue again (and the Weather Channel web site is saying there's a 30 percent chance of "a few showers" in the forecast), NASCAR is in a world of serious hurt.
Read on and you'll know what happens when you try to cram 36 weeks of racing into a nine-month window.
With the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway postponed until Monday, I knew it was time to stop and take a look at the standings with four races left until the Chase for the Nextel Cup - gotta get that in while we can since it becomes the Sprint Cup in 2008 - gets rolling.
As ESPN was doing its pre-race/rain delay filler show, Shannon Spake reported that Carl Edwards would start 11th if the Chase were to begin today. That was puzzling to me because I thought that after driver wins, you go down the stat columns to break ties (poles, top-5s, top-10s, etc.).
Based on that, here's how I'm seeing how the Chase-eligible drivers currently line up with four races left to run.
When Friday's qualifying at Watkins Glen was rained out, I had a feeling, Tony Stewart, who only kicks butt on road courses, had his weapon to win. You see, when he won in 2004 and 2005, the Friday qualifying was washed out.
I'm not prophetic, just clairvoyant, I guess.
All self-deprecation aside, Stewart won for the third time in four weeks and is starting to seriously challenge Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for season supremacy.
But is he up any higher on the power rankings? Read on...
Here are the latest power rankings after the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen.
Gotta give it up for Kurt Busch. Not only did the driver of the Blue Deuce finally get off the winless schnide (52 races worth), he did so in a fashion that blew everyone away and inserted him firmly into the Race to the Chase, which has five races and 33 days left to run.
Busch should be in our power rankings, but how does the rest of the field shake out?
Here are the power rankings following the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway:
If there's one thing I admit to readily, it's that I'm a creature of habit. Once I get comfortable with something, it's usually easy to stick with it.
As I was driving home on Saturday night, I heard something that was as uncomfortable as a tooth extraction.
On the Sporting News network over XM Satellite Radio, the weekend overnight host, Tim Montemayor, spouted off on how he felt Toyota didn't belong in NASCAR. It's old news, but what exacerbated his opinion was that a Toyota (shame) won the Busch race on Saturday at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
From the 'is it a coincidence' file: When Tony Stewart won the Brickyard 400 in 2005, he went on to win the Nextel Cup title. On Sunday, he won the Brickyard 400 for the second time and became only the third driver with multiple wins in 2007.
We know anything can happen with the new Chase format, but Stewart's already won under the Chase once before. Six to go until the run to the 2007 title starts.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Hard to believe, but we've gone past the halfway point of the 2007 Nextel Cup season. There are only seven more races left to run until we hit the Chase in its new format. 13 different drivers - including three who wouldn't be in the Chase if it started today - have won the 19 races. Only Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, with four each, have won more than once.
Here's a look at the best, worst, and what's to come for the second half.
Nothing like a good sit-down talk to get your head right, especially if your name happens to be Tony Stewart.
After a contentious week were there was more sniping with teammate Denny Hamlin than grade-schoolers who don't know how to share, Stewart went out and won the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicago.
But did he move up in the power rankings? Read on as we enjoy the off week before Indianapolis.
Did you see that finish in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona on Saturday night? In a word...wow!
The word for runner-up Kyle Busch, who got beat by Jamie McMurray? More like "waaaah," as in "my teammates didn't help me get the win, so I'll cry about it to the media."
Boo-bleepin-hoo!
Big-time props go out to McMurray. After watching his fuel tank run dry two weeks ago as he lost the fuel mileage gamble while leading at Sonoma in the closing laps, it was only appropriate that the driver of the No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion got his first win in nearly five years - 166 total starts - at a special place like Daytona.
WIth the season at its official halfway point, here are the latest power rankings. Sit back and enjoy.
You knew Denny Hamlin was due, right?
Finally, after a gutsy, crazy, totally risky call by crew chief Mike Ford, the No. 11 got back to Victory Lane after a drought of 32 races on Sunday. Hamlin took only two tires to claim the lead with 45 laps left and this time, he didn't give it up, even with Jeff Gordon bearing down on his bumper.
But will Gordon still hold the No. 1 spot in our rankings? Read on to find out.
Here are the latest power rankings after the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire:
For the first Nextel Cup road course race of 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya proved he was far from a fluke after his Busch Series victory on the Mexico City road course.
Montoya patiently waited out Jamie McMurray's fuel and held on for his first career victory in the Toyota/SaveMart 350 in Sonoma, Calif.
Here are the complete power rankings after Sonoma:
The Citizens Bank 400 from Michigan International Speedway is complete. News Flash: Hendrick Motorsports didn't win!
Then again, Ford and Dodge have a place where they can actually run well. Between the two, they've won the last 12 races at the 2-mile oval.
Here's the latest on the power rankings after Michigan:
Will Hendrick Motorsports ever lose a Nextel Cup race again? Based on what we saw on Sunday at the Pocono 500 with Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, delivering a gutsy call on coming in early to pit on lap 82, five laps before the rest of the race leaders did, we seriously doubt it.
Here are the latest NASCAR Nextel Cup power rankings after the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway:
In the interest of saving space for the daily paper, I've decided to share my power rankings with you on this blog. All information will be updated after each week's race is completed.
Sit back, enjoy, and disagree if you must. It makes things that much more interesting
News flash! Stop your blogs, boys and girls...
Yahoo! Sports is reporting on its site that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will officially be leaving DEI, the company built by his late father. An announcement will be forthcoming on Thursday in a televised press conference from Mooresville, N.C. at 9 a.m.
The move involves Earnhardt and teammate Martin Truex, Jr., who will both move over to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, an operation that until now had fielded cars exclusively for the Busch Series.
In a word...whoa!
All of this business about the Car of Tomorrow is starting to drive me batty. Some love it. Most can't stand driving it. Fans say the racing isn't as good.
NASCAR had the right idea by putting the COT on a partial schedule in 2007 as a means of breaking it in, but I have to wonder why they didn't wait.
Good evening, race fans!
For the first Saturday night NASCAR Nextel Cup run of the 2007 season, the Car of Tomorrow is back in action at Phoenix International Raceway. And just like he did at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon was the man.
The old saying goes that cheaters never prosper.
NASCAR, in its infinite wisdom, is trying to drive that message home to its Nextel Cup drivers - with an iron fist that's leaving drivers and owners more than a little confused.
They have no reason to be because the message is crystal clear. You can say NASCAR is trying too hard, but there are too many fans watching these days. Cheating incidents can't be swept under the rug anymore.
Cheating will kill this sport in a heartbeat and leave it on the lines of the WWE - a completely staged, predictable joke.